Business Association of Georgia members met with PM

Members of the Business Association of Georgia met with the Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze. The event was held at the Biltmore Hotel in Tbilisi.

The acting president of the Business Association, Soso Pkhakadze, opened the discussion by thanking the Prime Minister and the attending members of the Parliament for cooperating and holding the meeting in this format. The newly appointed Minister of Economy, Natia Turnava, also attended.

The meeting discussed the general state of the country's economy was discussed. The attendees reviewed the legislative initiatives that could help Georgia's economy to grow faster while creating new job opportunities:

"We heard some interesting opinions from the private sector, that I think will become part of our legislative base. We all agree that the ongoing reforms and initiatives are an important step forward in making our economy more competitive and beneficial for every citizen of Georgia", noted the PM after the meeting.

The education sector was also a subject of focus and the members of the Business association together with the prime minister discussed the involvement of the private sector in the field, specifically in vocational education.

"We are already cooperating with several companies and I am pleased that the private sector is fully ready to make more contributions to vocational education. Our goal is direct 6 percent of our economy, so a quarter of the budget, towards education. Besides, there is an expectation that the private sector will add 5 percent of the investments, resulting in the education sector taking up the dominant 11-12 percent share in our economy," said Mamuka Bakhtadze.

Soso Pkhakadze, who is also the president of the 'Wissol Group' said that members of the private sector received all the answers.

"We say that there is a lack of staff, but on the other hand, there is a serious shortage of professional staff in this country and focusing on education is one of the most pragmatic and correct decisions everyone should talk about it openly"-said Soso Pkhakadze.

Business Ombudsman, Irakli Lekvinidze, assessed the meeting with the prime minister and representatives of the Georgian Business Association as highly productive.

According to him, proposals regarding various legislative initiatives were made.

"The meeting discussed the current issues in the energy sector and discussed the concerns related to the education sector as well as to tobacco regulation. There were specific offers. Even if there is a necessity of applying the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) to many regulations, I think this is a principle agreement to implement this process. Likewise, the issue of losses is still relevant, and it is common in every field. The conversation touched upon systemic issues as well as the specific ones", said the Business Ombudsman.